<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>there is so much to tell you, there is so much to see by lazyfish</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27547207">there is so much to tell you, there is so much to see</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazyfish/pseuds/lazyfish'>lazyfish</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>atlas: life [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Background Dousy, Canon Compliant, F/M, Post-Canon, Reunions, background fitzsimmons, background mackelena</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 17:40:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,060</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27547207</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazyfish/pseuds/lazyfish</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After years of no contact from the team, Bobbi and Hunter receive a graduation invitation in the mail. They go to the party with more than one story to tell - and more than one to hear, too.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lance Hunter/Bobbi Morse</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>atlas: life [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2013385</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>39</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>there is so much to tell you, there is so much to see</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctorofaos/gifts">doctorofaos</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Graduation Party</em>
</p><p>
  <em>in honor of</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Flint Mackenzie-Rodriguez</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Class of 2022</em>
</p><p>
  <em>S.H.I.E.L.D. Operations Academy Pre-Program</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Saturday, the eleventh of June</em>
</p><p>
  <em>One o’clock in the afternoon</em>
</p><p>
  <em>At the Mackenzie-Rodriguez home</em>
</p><p>Bobbi flipped the invitation over to read the address printed on the back, and tried not to let herself get too excited.</p><p>“Ma!” Andy screeched, displeased at no longer being the center of her mother’s attention.</p><p>“Yes, baby,” Bobbi said, setting the invitation down on the table and picking Andy up out of her high chair. The baby grinned, instantly placated now that she was in Bobbi’s arms. “You have your father’s flair for the dramatic, do you know that?” Bobbi asked, smoothing back Andy’s wispy hair from her face. Andy just kept smiling her gummy smile, waving her hands happily.</p><p>“I should probably tell you I heard that,” Hunter said as he shut the front door behind himself.</p><p>“Baby, if you didn’t know you were dramatic by now I don’t think we’d be married.”</p><p>“Technically, we’re not married,” Hunter said, pressing a quick kiss to Bobbi’s cheek before placing an equally swift one on the top of Andy’s head. “Sorry I missed dinner.”</p><p>“Don’t say technically when you mean legally,” Bobbi admonished, kissing Hunter’s cheek in return. “And you’re fine. It was your turn to be the workaholic in this relationship anyways.”</p><p>“This is true,” Hunter said, puttering over to the refrigerator where his leftovers were waiting. “And we need to talk about your nicknaming skills sometime. I never know if you mean me-baby or baby-baby.”</p><p>“Well, since you vetoed Teacup I’m afraid I’m fresh out of nicknames.”</p><p>“Honey. Sweetie. Sweetheart. Love of my life. Hell, I’d take hubs even if we’re not legally married. If I’m really desperate, baby daddy.” Hunter put the container with the leftover pasta into the microwave and started reheating it.</p><p>“<em>Or</em> I could just call you by your name. I’ll throw in a ‘Lance’ every now and then if you’re being good.”</p><p>“Lance is my name!”</p><p>“Your name is Hunter,” Bobbi corrected, rolling her eyes. “But you are my Lance.”</p><p>“I’m noticing you didn’t say no to baby daddy.”</p><p>“Don’t push it.”</p><p>“Do you hear this, Andy?” Hunter asked, taking the baby from Bobbi’s arms. Andy immediately grabbed for Hunter’s face - she had recently gained an obsession with Hunter’s scruff and running her hands across it. Bobbi guessed it had something to do with how different the texture was from anything else she touched. That, and the fact it was attached to Andy’s second-favorite person. (Bobbi was first, but only narrowly and because she was the one with the food.)</p><p>“Your mum is being mean to me.” Hunter smacked a kiss against Andy’s cheek, making her giggle. “And you’re letting her!”</p><p>“What is she going to do to stop me?” Bobbi laughed. </p><p>“I don’t know. But Andy is on my side.”</p><p>“She’s nine months old, Hunter, she can’t be on anyone’s side!”</p><p>“That’s just your excuse so you don’t lose the argument.” Hunter grinned at her, all bright eyes and mirth, and Bobbi couldn’t help but smile back, pulling him in for a quick kiss.</p><p>“Little miss needs a change and a bath, so if you would please stop holding my daughter hostage -”</p><p>“<em>Your</em> daughter!?”</p><p>“Go eat your pasta, Hunter.” Bobbi shooed him over to the microwave, accepting Andy back into her arms when Hunter handed her over, lip stuck out in an over-exaggerated pout.</p><p>“Your daddy is ridiculous,” Bobbi murmured as she carried Andy up the stairs. “And we love him very much because of it.” It was nice to have a life where she and Hunter could tease and bicker about something that didn’t matter, nice to have a life where they were both developing smile lines at the corners of their eyes. Why, then, was she still thinking about the invitation on the kitchen table?</p><p>Hunter came to sit with her in the bathroom right as Andy’s bath was drawing to a close, and Bobbi let him be the one to pull the baby out of her miniature tub and wrap her up in her towel. He flipped the bird hood over her head, smiling the soft smile he reserved only for their daughter.</p><p>An hour later Andy had been fed again and was off to dreamland, leaving Bobbi a few precious hours alone with her husband. They cuddled up together on the sofa, Bobbi’s head on Hunter’s shoulder, and flipped the TV onto a random channel.</p><p>
“So,” Hunter said as the TV droned in the background.</p><p>“You saw it?”</p><p>“I did.”</p><p>“What do you think?”</p><p>“We probably shouldn’t, should we?” Hunter asked, echoing Bobbi’s own uncertainty.</p><p>“He wouldn’t have invited us if he didn’t think it was safe,” Bobbi said, though she wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince Hunter or herself.</p><p>“We could do a drive-by,” Hunter suggested.</p><p>“You want to drive four hours just for a drive-by?” </p><p>“It would feel better than ignoring it.”</p><p>“And no guilt for breaking the rules,” Bobbi agreed. “But…”</p><p>“I want to meet Mack’s kid, too,” Hunter said, picking up on her train of thought.</p><p>“And I want him to meet ours.” They still weren’t sure whether anyone on the team had heard news about Andy. Ballblaster Hooligans had been absorbed by a different magazine the month after she was born, one which didn’t publish letters from fans, so if Fitz had seen the letter Hunter posted he wasn’t able to send a response.</p><p>“We can always pretend to get lost if we notice someone tailing us.” No one had tailed them for years - the only reason they knew Russia was still haunting them at all was their denied adoption application and the healthy dose of paranoia they both still carried with them.</p><p>“Okay.” Bobbi snuggled closer to Hunter, laying her head on his chest. Making peace with never going back to S.H.I.E.L.D. was more difficult when they kept getting mixed signals - nothing for years, then a desperate Fitz asking Hunter to come rescue him, more nothing and then an invitation to a graduation party… she just wished things would make sense.</p><p>“It’ll be fine, Bob,” Hunter said, playing with one of her curls. “Don’t overthink it.”</p><p>Bobbi snorted softly. When did she <em>not</em> overthink things? For all that had happened, she was still a spy at heart.</p><p>---</p><p>The drive up to Mack’s house was, in a word, unpleasant. Andy had never been on such a lengthy road trip before and she was not thrilled with being in her car seat for long. A fussy baby, an unfamiliar road, and the growing sense of unease as they got closer all made for an uncomfortable drive.</p><p>When they finally did arrive Bobbi made Hunter loop around the block a few times to check for anything suspicious. They didn’t find anything, of course, but it was a force of habit. </p><p>“Maybe we should just go home,” Bobbi said as they walked up the driveway.</p><p>“Love, I’m not sure I can endure another four hours of whiny baby right now,” Hunter said, adjusting Andy’s position on his hip. “Besides, we already got the hotel room. Do you really want to waste our hundred dollars?”</p><p>“We can afford it.”</p><p>“<em>Barbara</em>.”</p><p>“I know,” Bobbi sighed, pushing her hands through her hair. “I’m just…”</p><p>“Hold the baby,” Hunter suggested, passing Andy to her. “She makes everything better.”</p><p>Bobbi tried to roll her eyes but failed. Hunter was right, of course - things seemed less scary holding onto her daughter. She could be the brave one, for Andy.</p><p>She handed Hunter the diaper bag and graduation gift in exchange for the baby and they finished the short walk up to the front porch. Hunter rang the bell and an unfamiliar woman answered the door.</p><p>“Hi,” Hunter said, smiling. “We’re here for Flint’s graduation party?”</p><p>“Everyone’s out back, but I can take you through the house,” the woman said, her affable smile matching Hunter’s. “How do you know Flint?” she asked as she led them past a living room and through a kitchen crowded with food.</p><p>“We used to work with his dad,” Bobbi answered.</p><p>“Oh, you’re from -” the woman stopped halfway through her sentence, swallowing her words.</p><p>“You know, S.H.I.E.L.D. was on the invitation,” Hunter said drily.</p><p>“Daisy says we’re still not supposed to be advertising it.”</p><p>“You know Daisy?” Bobbi asked.</p><p>“Yeah, she’s my sister.” </p><p><em>What the fuck? </em>First Mack had a kid they didn’t know about, then Daisy had a sister they didn’t know about - did Fitz or Simmons have a secret relative, too?</p><p>The woman opened the door to the back porch, revealing a spacious backyard with a few clusters of people and some party games scattered around. </p><p>Daisy and a man in a blue shirt were standing closest to the door, which Bobbi guessed was the reason Daisy’s sister had been the one to answer the door instead of one of the hosts of the party. Bobbi scanned the backyard looking for Mack, but before she spotted him, Daisy had spotted her - and, perhaps more importantly, Andy.</p><p>“Oh my God.”</p><p>“Hi, Daisy.”</p><p>“I - it’s been six years and all I get is <em>hi</em>?” Daisy said, laughing.</p><p>“How have you been?” Bobbi tried again.</p><p>“You’re hopeless,” Daisy said, shaking her head. “How have <em>you</em> been?” Daisy gestured to the baby in Bobbi’s arms.</p><p>“Tell me about your sister and I’ll tell you about my daughter.”</p><p>“Okay, deal. Kora died before I was born in this timeline, but we took her from another one because she was the key to saving the universe.”</p><p>Bobbi paused for a moment. It was either an elaborate lie or a mind-boggling truth, and after all her time at S.H.I.E.L.D. she knew which one was more likely. “She turns one in September,” Bobbi said, kissing the side of Andy’s head. “Do you need a refresher on how babies are made?” she smirked.</p><p>“No, I think I can figure that one out,” Daisy chuckled. </p><p>“Dais, where should I put this?” Hunter asked, hefting the box with their gift in one arm. </p><p>Bobbi blinked, and there was another unfamiliar woman where there had been just air before.</p><p>“Inhuman,” Daisy explained when Hunter gaped. </p><p>“I can take that,” she said, holding out her hands for the neatly-wrapped gift.</p><p>“Elena, this is Bobbi and Hunter. Bobbi, Hunter, this is Elena, Mack’s wife.”</p><p><em>Wife. </em>Bobbi’s heart squeezed -  she had missed Mack’s wedding.</p><p>“Nice to meet you,” she said as Hunter deposited the gift into her hands. Elena raised her eyebrows at the heft of the box. “What did you get him, rocks?”</p><p>Daisy laughed, and Bobbi furrowed her eyebrows. There was a joke there she wasn’t understanding.</p><p>“Flint’s also an Inhuman. He does rock stuff,” Daisy said, once again picking up on Bobbi’s general uncertainty. Elena zipped away with the gift, leaving Bobbi staring at an empty space, still clutching her baby. “C’mon, I gotta take you to make the rounds and meet everyone.” She beckoned Bobbi towards the man in the blue shirt she had been talking to, and Bobbi had no choice to follow. Hunter trailed behind, and Bobbi breathed easier knowing he had her back, same as he always had.</p><p>“Daniel, oh Daniel!” Daisy sang.</p><p>“Is that -?”</p><p>“Kora wasn’t the only souvenir we got from the other timeline. Don’t worry though, we left something behind, too. We’re not <em>just</em> takers.” Daisy was grinning again, an easy smile Bobbi almost didn’t recognize. Was this what she looked like when she was really happy, and not constantly on edge, waiting for the world to fall apart?</p><p>“Nice to meet you,” Bobbi said, shifting Andy on her hip slightly so she could extend her hand. “Uh, sir?”</p><p>Daisy snorted while Daniel and Bobbi shook. “When have you ever called anyone sir?”</p><p>
“I called Coulson sir!”</p><p>“Daniel is not actually the director of anything in this timeline,” Daisy laughed. “That’d be Mack.”</p><p>“Bloody hell,” Hunter breathed, echoing Bobbi’s thoughts precisely.</p><p>“Daniel, Bobbi Morse and Lance Hunter,” Daisy said, evidently remembering the point of introductions was actually to introduce.</p><p>“Hold on!” Another unfamiliar voice cut through the air. “Did you just say <em>Bobbi Morse</em>? Like, the Mockingbird!?”</p><p>Uh oh. Very big uh oh. Bobbi turned to see who was asking after her, and found herself staring into the eyes of a gangly twenty-something with a taco in each of his hands.</p><p>“This is the man of the hour!” Daisy said happily. “Flint, these are your dad’s friends!”</p><p>“I thought he was kidding!” </p><p>The rest of the team materialized from their various conversations spread across the yard, and Andy gave them all a wide-eyed look before burying her face in Bobbi’s shoulder.</p><p>“You really thought we were <em>all</em> lying to you about knowing Bobbi?” Mack asked, clapping Flint on the shoulder fondly.</p><p>“Okay, listen, given the amount of crazy stories you guys have, it wouldn’t have been <em>that</em> hard to make up a relationship with the coolest S.H.I.E.L.D. agent ever!”</p><p>“The coolest S.H.I.E.L.D. agent ever,” Bobbi repeated disbelievingly.</p><p>“Little Mack, you cannot go saying those things to her. She already has an ego,” Hunter nudged Bobbi’s shoulder playfully with his and for a moment suddenly being surrounded by everyone she used to love wasn’t so overwhelming.</p><p>“Do not,” she grumbled, running a hand up and down Andy’s back soothingly as her daughter burrowed further into her shoulder. “Also, hi,” Bobbi said. She directed her words mostly to Mack, but May and Coulson had appeared, too. It seemed only Fitz and Simmons were missing. </p><p>“Hey,” Mack said, smiling. “I’d hug you but I think I’d probably squish the baby.” What he didn’t say, but Bobbi heard, was <em>is that your baby?</em></p><p>“She’s not super great with strangers,” Bobbi said apologetically. “We weren’t really sure what we were getting into.”</p><p>“Being a graduation gift, apparently,” Hunter remarked. It made sense, now that he said it; the reason Mack had reached out after all these years was to give his son a graduation gift he was going to remember.</p><p>“And I wanted to see you,” Mack asserted in the way he had that was simultaneously gentle and firm. “And, apparently, the newest Morse-Hunter.”</p><p>“Her name is Andy,” Bobbi offered. </p><p>“Short for something?” Mack asked.</p><p>“Andromeda,” Bobbi said. “Izzy picked it.”</p><p>“Izzy Hartley?” Flint asked. “Real S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Izzy Hartley?”</p><p>“Christ, Mack, are you having Little Mack memorize textbooks?” Hunter asked.</p><p>“That would be May, actually. She teaches history at the Academy.”</p><p>“Flint is my top student,” May said, voice oddly devoid of emotion, even for her.</p><p>“What else have you all been up to, other than saving the world and adopting Inhumans and stealing people from an alternate timeline?” Bobbi asked.</p><p>“We also adopted a non-Inhuman,” Elena offered. </p><p>“Awesome.” Bobbi forced her smile not to slip at the mention of adoption and how she would never be able to have that for herself. “How old is he?”</p><p>“He just turned fifteen. He’s convinced he wants to go to the pre-program like Flint as soon as he’s out of high school,” Elena said, shaking her head fondly.</p><p>“Start ‘em young!” Phil grinned.</p><p>“Maybe wait until she can walk,” Bobbi said. Andy whined into her shoulder and Bobbi began swaying side to side to calm her down. “I think Andy’s more of a lover than a fighter.”</p><p>“I’m pretty sure you’re the only one whose baby isn’t interested in S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Daisy laughed. “Alya is always trying to sneak onto the Zephyr when we leave.”</p><p>“Alya?” Bobbi repeated.</p><p>“Oh - she’s Fitz and Simmons’s oldest,” Daisy said haltingly. “She turns six next month.”</p><p>Something did not compute.</p><p>“We have so much to tell you,” Mack said after a moment of awkward silence. “Come on, let’s sit.”</p><p>---</p><p>The party moved inside after the afternoon sun became too much to handle, and most of the other guests left for various reasons as dinnertime approached. As time wore on and her crankiness from the car wore off, Andy became rather enamored with being the center of attention for adults who weren’t her parents. She was especially taken by Flint, which Bobbi found amusing to no end - especially because Flint seemed to be just as in love with her, no matter how many times she tugged on his hair none-too-gently. </p><p>Stories of the years apart came in fragments, with various people chipping in the parts they remembered. In addition to the old team, Kora, and Daniel (who, Daisy had neglected to mention, was her <em>fiancé</em>), there were a few other agents Bobbi had never met, like Agents Piper and Davis, who stuck around after everyone else had dispersed.</p><p>“Fitz and Simmons said they’d make it for dinner,” Mack said as he checked his watch. “When do you guys have to be going?”</p><p>“She’s normally in bed by seven, but she didn’t get her nap today so she might get whiny sooner,” Bobbi said, holding Andy back from attempting to crawl under the couch, <em>again</em>. The problem with Mack having two teenagers was that his house wasn’t exactly baby-proofed. Kind of the opposite, actually, given everything that was tossed onto the floor.</p><p>“The place we’re staying is only about ten minutes away, so we’ll see how long we can hold on,” Hunter added. </p><p>“How long are you in town for?” Elena asked.</p><p>“We had planned on driving back tomorrow, but we might be able to swing staying another day,” Bobbi answered. “I can just call in sick to work or something.”</p><p>“Please. We’d love to have you over again.” Elena made a subtle gesture with her head towards Flint, who had picked Andy up from the prison of Bobbi’s legs and started cooing at her again. He was trying to get her to say his name, and Bobbi didn’t have the heart to tell him she hadn’t actually said anything more than babbling. Apparently Flint didn’t understand much about babies, being from a post-apocalyptic future where there were no babies and all.</p><p>Jesus. It was never going to get less weird to think the team had been to the future. </p><p>Everything was weird, and different. Of course Bobbi knew things would change after being gone for so long, but she hadn’t prepared herself for how <em>much</em> change there would be, especially since it had taken her and Hunter so long to move on from S.H.I.E.L.D. and what it had meant for them. Maybe choosing to walk away made it easier to cope with, she thought as she leaned back against Hunter’s legs.</p><p>He began playing with her hair and Bobbi let her eyes slip shut. At least when everything was changing, he stayed the same - her anchor in everything, just like he’d been since they entered the Moscow airport. </p><p>Her eyes popped open again when Andy made a whining sound Bobbi knew all too well - the prelude to a full-on meltdown.</p><p>“I’ll get her,” Hunter said, running his hands through her hair one last time. He lifted Andy off Flint’s lap and began bouncing her gently. “Are you hungry, baby bird?” Hunter cooed. “You’re going to eat now and then you’re going to be upset when everyone eats without you,” Hunter warned. Andy just whined back, because she was a baby and she did not understand the concept of time. </p><p>“I can’t imagine them when they’re that little,” Elena said while Hunter took Andy into the kitchen with the diaper bag to find something she would eat. “Teenagers are bad enough, and they can tell you what they need.”</p><p>“Hey!” Flint and Frankie said in unison.</p><p>“Andy’s a good baby,” Bobbi said, happy as always to discuss her daughter. “It’s just a lot of new things today for her.”</p><p>The front door opened, cutting off any further discussion of Andy’s temperament with a flash of blonde hair and a high-pitched squeal. A half-second later Daisy had an armful of small child and Fitz and Simmons were in the entryway of the living room, another child sitting on Jemma’s hip.</p><p>When the girl had extracted herself from Daisy, she immediately noticed there was someone in the room she hadn’t met before. She marched over to Bobbi, hands on her hips. “Who are you?”</p><p>“My name’s Bobbi. I’m friends with Mack.”</p><p>“I’m Alya.”</p><p>“I know,” Bobbi said, tilting her head to the side. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”</p><p>“That’s Pippa,” Alya said, pointing to the toddler in Jemma’s arms. “She’s my sister, and she’s one and a half. I’m six.”</p><p>“I see.” Bobbi nodded.</p><p>“Ma!” a familiar voice shrieked from the kitchen. “<em>Ma!</em>” The shriek quickly turned into a wail and Bobbi stood up quickly, brushing past the Fitzsimmons family to find her baby. Andy was red-faced and still screaming when Bobbi made it to the kitchen, and she didn’t stop crying even when Bobbi picked her up.</p><p>“What happened?” Bobbi asked as she began bouncing.</p><p>“I wouldn’t let her eat the bag the yogurt drops came in,” Hunter said drily.</p><p>“Oh, she is <em>so</em> your child.” Bobbi huffed out a laugh, feeling much better now that she knew Andy wasn’t hurt - just being her normal melodramatic self.</p><p>“Ma,” Andy snuffled, burying her face in Bobbi’s neck.</p><p>“I know, Andy. Daddy is very mean and you must always have one hundred percent of Mummy’s attention. It’s very hard to be you.” Bobbi stroked her hand down the back of Andy’s head, and it only took a minute for her daughter to calm down again.</p><p>“She still needs to eat,” Hunter said when the crying had stopped. “Unless you think it’s time to go?”</p><p>“Fitz and Jemma just got here,” Bobbi sighed. “I can feed her if you want to go say hi.”</p><p>“There’s no need.” Jemma appeared in the kitchen, no longer holding Pippa. She looked at the baby in Bobbi’s arms and her shoulders sagged, like she was letting go of a weight she didn’t know she was holding.</p><p>“I would ask if she’s yours, but it’s rather obvious.” Jemma took a seat next to Hunter at the table, patting him awkwardly on the shoulder when she moved past.</p><p>“Guess Fitz didn’t get the message, then.”</p><p>“Ah.” Fitz, too, appeared in the kitchen. “Ballblaster doesn’t deliver to Scotland, can you believe?”</p><p>Hunter blinked. “It doesn’t deliver at all anymore, mate.”</p><p>Fitz rubbed at the back of his neck. “Sorry.”</p><p>“It’s fine.” Fitz either didn’t see the tightness in Hunter’s jaw or chose to ignore it - Bobbi wasn’t sure which answer was more likely after all the years apart.</p><p>“Are you going to cry if I give you back to Daddy?” Bobbi asked. Andy whuffled softly but didn’t protest when Bobbi set her back in Hunter’s lap. Bobbi slid into the chair on her not-husband’s other side and handed him the bag of yogurt drops to attempt to feed to the baby again.</p><p>“How old is she?” Jemma asked after a moment of silence.</p><p>“Nine months,” Bobbi answered as Hunter passed the first yogurt melt to Andy. She took it between her fingers, inspecting it for a moment before shoving it into her mouth.</p><p>“She has good fine motor control for a child her age,” Jemma commented.</p><p>“Course she does, she’s preparing for her career as a professional footie player,” Hunter said, handing Andy another yogurt drop when she finished the first. “Can’t walk yet but I know she’s headed down that path.”</p><p>Bobbi managed a small smile at Hunter and his attempt to lighten the mood. “Andy doesn’t even like soccer.”</p><p>“She doesn’t like - <em>Jesus</em>, Bob, are you trying to break my heart?”</p><p>“No, honey. Just giving you realistic expectations.” She kissed Hunter on the cheek with a smile.</p><p>“Ma!”</p><p>“Do you want a kiss too, baby bird?” Bobbi cooed, bending down to Andy. The baby giggled, grabbing for Bobbi’s face with her saliva-covered hands. Bobbi didn’t even wince at the damp palm on her cheek - motherhood had gotten her even more used to bodily fluids than being an agent had. </p><p>“You seem happy,” Jemma said when Bobbi straightened again.</p><p>“Were you expecting we wouldn’t be?” Bobbi asked.</p><p>“We didn’t know.”</p><p>“We were always going to be okay,” Hunter said. Maybe Bobbi imagined it, but it seemed like he was holding tighter to Andy than he had been a moment before. “It just took us a bit to get there.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Fitz whispered. “Guess we should have expected that.”</p><p>“Mate, if you really cared you could’ve done something about it. Apparently you invented time travel so I’m not sure why you’re acting like a phone call would’ve been impossible.” Bobbi winced at the hardness of Hunter’s voice, but she couldn’t disagree with him. After everything she had heard about the team’s exploits, it did sting more than a little to hear the first time anyone had even attempted to reach out was years later. They had traveled through time and space but apparently the Russian government was insurmountable. Bobbi could understand why Mack, as director, had to be careful about making contact, but Fitz and Simmons were retired. They had a home, a life - a life they had been perfectly content to live without even a consideration of Bobbi and Hunter. Maybe it wasn’t fair to expect them to remember, but it <em>hurt</em> to know the day that still haunted her nightmares was no more than a passing remembrance for the people she had once loved.</p><p>“We didn’t <em>technically -</em>”</p><p>“Jemma,” Fitz interrupted. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” Oddly, even the apology didn’t ease the knot in Bobbi’s chest. </p><p>“It’s your loss,” Hunter said, feeding Andy another yogurt drop. “Our kid is pretty great.”</p><p>“She is,” Jemma agreed earnestly.</p><p>“All done?” Hunter asked when Andy finished her food. She wasn’t reaching for the bag like she normally did when she wanted more, though that might’ve been because she was now staring at Jemma in wide-eyed wonder.</p><p>“She doesn’t look like mummy, does she, little bird?” Hunter asked, kissing the top of Andy’s head. “Come on, love, Flint is waiting.”</p><p>Andy let out a happy peal of babbles at Flint’s name, and Bobbi hid a smile as Hunter stood. Bobbi tucked the bag of yogurt drops back into the diaper bag before picking it up.</p><p>“Bobbi,” Jemma said, stopping her before she could leave the kitchen with Hunter and Fitz. “I wanted to talk.”</p><p>“About?”</p><p>“What happened.” Jemma ducked her head.</p><p>“What <em>happened</em> was you made a choice, and you have to live with the consequences,” Bobbi said. She wasn’t going to feel bad because Jemma made a choice and was regretting it now that she realized it had repercussions beyond that she had originally considered or prepared for. “I’m happy with my life. And maybe I didn’t save the world, but I had to fight just as hard to be happy as you did. If you’re happy with yours, then maybe it’s for the better we both move on.”</p><p>“But I don’t want to!” Jemma sighed. “Just tell me what to do so you won’t be angry.”</p><p>“I’m not angry, Jemma,” Bobbi said flatly. “I’m just disappointed that apparently you never cared about me as much as I cared about you.”</p><p>“That’s not fair.”</p><p>“We did everything in our power for you to find out that Andy existed. You didn’t even let us know you were <em>alive</em>.” Bobbi’s voice stuck in her throat. “I’m not saying that we’ll never be friends again, Jemma, but it hurts. And if you’re not going to let me be hurt because of your own guilty conscience, then like I said, we should just put what we had in the past.”</p><p>“You need time.”</p><p>“I need time,” Bobbi agreed. “And I need to know that letting you all back in isn’t going to be a mistake.” She had a baby to think about now, and Andy’s heart was more precious to her than anything. Andy was already desperately in love with Flint, and while she would forget today soon enough, if they let it keep going - if they kept visiting, having phone calls, telling stories - one day Andy would find herself in love with people who weren’t always guaranteed to stay.</p><p>Bobbi couldn’t be the cause of her daughter’s first heartbreak. She couldn’t be the reason Andy knew what it was like to have people walk away from her and never look back.</p><p>“We had time,” Jemma said with a sigh. “I suppose it would be selfish not to give you the same.”</p><p>“It’s not the end if you don’t want it to be, Jemma,” Bobbi said carefully. “I have a lot of stories I want to tell Andy, and some of them are about you, and Fitz, and everyone else. But some of them aren’t anymore, and that has to be okay.”</p><p>“It is okay.” Jemma pressed her lips together. “I just wanted you to be happy.”</p><p>“And I am,” Bobbi siad. She had her not-quite-husband and her baby and a life that she was happy in, if not the <em>happiest</em>. But maybe that could change now, with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s cautious re-entrance in her life. Maybe she could be the happiest version of herself - or maybe not. Bobbi didn’t know and that was terrifying… but it was also what made life worth living. If she knew what was around every corner, the last decade of her life would’ve looked different, and maybe not in a good way.</p><p>“Good.” Jemma reached out a hand, and Bobbi didn’t have the heart not to take it. Jemma squeezed gently before releasing, gesturing with her head towards the living room. </p><p>“Mummy!” Alya said, running up to Jemma and hugging tight to her legs. “I missed you!”</p><p>“Ma!” Andy echoed, clapping delightedly. </p><p>“Come here, baby girl,” Bobbi laughed, taking her daughter off Hunter’s lap. She pressed a kiss to the side of Andy’s head, holding her nose against the soft blonde hair for a smidge longer than usual.</p><p>She was grateful for the life she had, the stories she had to tell. But maybe she could still have more stories with the people she loved -</p><p>Bobbi was just going to have to wait and see.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Happy birthday (again) Ania!</p><p>

There's at least one more story in this 'verse I might get around to telling someday, so if you enjoyed and would like to see more, feel free to say so in the comments below! :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>